Help! M15x's i7 vs m17x's dual 280m sli

Hello guys, this is my first post. Before flamming me about using the search button and whatnot, I would like to say that I've spent the last two days researching on which one of these babies to get.

I'm looking for a comp that can mainly satisfy my gaming needs and obsession with maxing out the graphics options for all games including AA and max resolution. Secondly I multitask alot and I love opening 10-20 tabs at one shot in my Mozilla while dling stuff and converting videos and transferring things or unraring stuff all at the same time.

So without further ado, i'll state the key points of each laptop
m15x -
intel i7 820qm
geforce gtx 260m
6gb ddr3 ram 1333
500gb 7200rpm drive

So far I've heard lots of positive feedback for the i7 and benchmarks I've seen shows the i7 demolishing the competition except the extreme processors but those are overpriced as compared to the i7. I feel the m15x is lighter and has better portability, however the Dell online store only sells the 9 cell battery for the m17x! Does anyone know whether the m17x battery can fit into the m15x?

M17x -
Either q9000/t9600/t9800
geforce gtx 280m SLI
4gb ddr3 ram
500gb 7200rpm drive

The biggest dilemma I'll have if I ever pick the m17x is which processor to pick. T9600 can be OC'ed pretty well while the t9800 has a high base ghz. However, the q9000 is the better choice for multitasking. I also consider more USB ports, a hdmi port and a additional keypad as pros for the system. The 17inch screen is also a boon.

So, let's say I get the m15x, in the future if I plan to upgrade my laptop, is it possible to insert the future geforce 300m series? If I get the m17x I'll probably not upgrade the processor as it probably cost a bomb and a pain in the butt to install right?

Thanks guys this is really my last resort posting this thread and I cannot decide on my own. I need professional advice

 

for the m17x i would go get the highest cache not clock speed. like you said it can be overclocked so get the highest cache which is 6mb for the dual cores

my m17 has the t9800 and it beats my desktop with a 3ghz quad at loading everything.

bottom line is that the dual cores are used alot more than quads at the moment for now till later this year or next year.

up to you. for gaming i think the dual core would be better for now.

as for the m15x click the link for the 60quid off the m15x

it will work out cheeper from there as you get 6gbs of memory for nothing extra + 5% coupon.

i would go for a 250gb hdd and put your own one in that way it works out cheeper

 

unless your from the us that link works for people in the UK

 

I suggest you wait for a litle while, it shouldn't be too long before alienware puts corei7's in their m17x series, otherwise they mights aswell post a direct link to the asus G series on their homepage since thats what most gamers are looking at anyway.

 

One plus to the M17X is that you also get a second HDD caddy and inteposer so you can boost your space. It is heavy, but for gaming it has X-Fire or SLI which works great. If your going for gaming a dual core would work fine, but if your running benchmarks, the QX9300 is where it's at. As far as keyboard and such I have a Logitech Performance MX mouse which uses a tiny bluetooth adaptor on which you can use to sync up to 6 devices. Works great. Although it isn't as portable as the M15X, I enjoy it for it's larger screen for gaming, X-Fire GPUs, and benchmarking power. Oh and replacing the processor in the M17X really isn't that difficult. I can swap processors in under 20 min. Just use The Moo's CPU guide.

 

i had a lot of problems with 280m sli on my last m17x something i don't see on crossfire set up, you should go for ATI's 4870 crossfire or stick with the m15x

 

I'm from Singapore so the links won't work for me and I can only get my alienware from Dell. Will changing my CPU void the Dell warranty? Got some seal that once broken warranty is void right?

I'm still having trouble deciding between the two. Anyone knows whether i7 or twin 280m gpus are better for gaming? I might even be willing to get the i7-920xm since the m15x is substantially cheaper so getting the i7 extreme would put the price in similar range as m17x

 

The M17x is probably your best choice. The dual 280Ms will completely destroy a single 260M when gaming (although don't expect to be going playing Crysis at 1920x1200 with 8xAA on very high.)

If you do pick M17x I would recommend the Q9000. It can be overclocked to 2.4GHz without an issue in nearly all cases which should satisfy both gaming and multitasking. Others say most games don't use a quad core, true however those games also won't put a faster dual core to much better use, you won't get much more performance from a faster dual core in nearly all cases.

The M15x's i7 also has throttling issues with the clock speeds when playing games. Not very nice at all when it happens.

At the end of the day the M17x with a Q9000 will do everything you need it to just fine and will destroy the M15x when it comes to playing games.

 

You can always switch the old cpu back when they come to fix your laptop ^^

 

Too bad I suck at changing comp parts. I couldn't even replace my 1gb ram with a 2gb ram on my desktop that's why I'm quite worried and I rather not touch the stock set. But that might change in the future.

So the oc'ed q9000 is better than the oc'ed t9600? In the future if I buy a i7 processor is it possible to insert it into the m17x?

 

twin gpu's are always better for gaming and you don't lost any warranty changing the proc. you can always put the factory one in it

 

you not be able to put an i7 in there the chipset won't support it

 

Oh man. You think if I get the m15x and I swap the 260m for a 300 series down the line it would be closer to the performance of the 280m sli?

Damn that means I can never have an i7 in my m17x.

 

a single card is never going to perform better than two but just wait they may release a m17x with i7

 

Boo. I have no time I can't wait I need a laptop asap before my school starts. The latest i can hold out is till end of jan. Any news on the new alienware? I have a feeling it won't be out till mid-year.

Sorry guys this is a overly expensive decision and I want to be sure I picked the right choice :/

 

The Q9000 can be OC'd pretty reliably as well, don't forget that. Mine has been rock stable within a stone's throw of the QX9300's stock clock speed (albeit with only a 6MB cache as opposed to 12). I've yet to find anything that could remotely choke it.

I'd go for the dual GPUs personally. They tend to have more effect on gaming than the processor, and a well-clocked Core 2 Quad is still no slouch.

EDIT - I'm slow

 

id save money and get the 260m m15x you wont be disapointed

 

Ok, I think it boils down to two questions for me which are the key to the answer I'm looking for.

1. Lets say i'm only willing to upgrade the gpu, do you think an i7 processor or a SLI gpu is more important for gaming in the future? I read somewhere that the second gpu of a SLI only gives a 0-40% boost as compared to a single one of that card. If that is true, I'd rather upgrade my gpu in the future.

Another main issue is supposedly the dual SLI is better for gaming than an i7 and a single gpu, then how much better is the performance and is it marginal or major? If I'm spilling so much more $$ just for a dual SLI to perform slightly better, then its not worth it.

 

SLi is better than an i7 for gaming. The i7 will give you essentially nothing in terms of framerates.

EDITED to add:
SLi's performance benefit depends on the coding of the game. It can be anywhere from 0 (for games that won't support it at all) to nearly double.

 

I saw a recent report on the i7 (sorry i've been thru so many sites and forums that i can't backtrack to the link) and the framerates it got blew everything else out of the water. On average it was like 40 frames more than the second best. That was a real eye opener for me of the i7 and I heard it hardly chokes and stuff. Been hearing many great things about it. I'm not sure as it is too good to be true that a processor can boost performance by so much.

 

If you turn down all the graphics settings, the CPU is then the bottleneck (usually), and a faster processor will give you better FPS.

With a performance notebook, you will be running with all the graphics settings up as high as they go, and unless the game you're running is EXTREMELY CPU dependant, you will see very little difference.

The example you quote is useless without specs on the machines, what game they were playing, and what graphics settings / resolution.

 

Ok then its decided. M17x here i come

LAST QUESTION!
If i OC,
T9800
T9600
or Q9000?

Since dual core is good for now and quad is good for future

Thanks so much guys! props to you too explosivpotato!

 

Am replying here cause i cant seem 2 see any post i sent.. pls any help here.
Anyway,I Have just got the new Alienware M15X very top spec of the machine. But am having problems with it. Rang up Alienware, they tried everthing 2 do a diagnostics but the machine would not do it. From the hard drive diagnostics it only got 2 step of colour bars Y/N, & would not go 4ward.

I told dell i would not accept a machine that does not run diagnostics.
Has anyone had this problem. Or u could try running one on ur machine see if it response. Would apprciate u response.

Thanx.

 

It's really up to you. A dual clocked to the moon will certainly be a screamer in the grand scheme of things, but a quad has (in theory at least) twice the processing real-estate.

I went with the Q9000 because, well, it's a quad. And quads are cool. Not to mention when I tell people who don't know much about computers that I have 4 CPU cores they just stare in wonder

On the performance side, an OC'd quad will handle pretty much anything you can throw at it right now.

 

I'd just like to thank everyone posting in this thread, the information provided has been top notch and have potentially saved me £190 by deciding to choose to OC a Q9000 rather than getting a T9800.

Although saying that, isn't there supposed to an m17x refresh sometime soon? Maybe I should hang on for that.

 

Hang on through this week I think. Dell is having a press conference as we type, so at least wait until this afternoon

 

AHHH why didn't you say it earlier explosivpotato!! I made my order moments before reading your post

 

If you ordered you can always cancel. Dell doesn't charge till the computer ships. Also I was reading one of your earlier posts, Genocidia, and if you don't feel comfortable changing the CPU I suggest going for the CPU you truly want from the start. Though the CPU rarely fails, this will ensure that it is covered under the warranty should a problem arise. This way you don't have to swap anything. Let Dell do the work.